Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday, February 18
4:00pm, Edward T. Aucoin
Sunday, February 19
9:00am, Michael Fairley
12 Noon, Parishioners of Sacred Heart
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND
Saturday, February 25, 4:00pm, Fr. Imbelli
Sunday, February 26, 9:00am, Fr. Connelly; 11:00am, Fr. Carey; 12 Noon, Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
First Reading: Genesis 9:8-15
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:12-15
HOLIDAY MASS SCHEDULE
On Monday, February 20, we celebrate Presidents’ Day, a civil holiday. Mass will be celebrated at 9:00am in the lower church. Come celebrate with us! NO 12:05pm Mass on February 20.
LENT BEGINS ON FEBRUARY 22
ASH WEDNESDAY: Ash Wednesday ushers in the Lenten Season. Mass and distribution of ashes will take place on February 22 at 7:00am, 12:05 and 7:30 pm in the Lower Church.
DAILY MASS SCHEDULE: Mondays at 12:05pm, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:00am, and Fridays and Saturdays at 9:00am. Saturday’s Mass is followed by Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary and Benediction at 12:30pm.
SOUP AND STATIONS Will be held on Lenten Fridays at Corpus Christi Church in Auburndale from 6 to 7:30 PM. Sacred Heart will be hosting on March 2 and 23 and volunteers are needed to provide soup, bread and desserts. Please contact Bernie or Peter Castellanos at 617-969-4299 or email to petec37@comcast.net.
LENTEN REGULATIONS
ABSTINENCE: Catholics over 14 years of age are bound to the obligations of abstinence. On Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, meat may not be used at all.
FAST: Catholics 18 – 60 are bound to the obligation of fasting. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the days of fasting. On these days, only one full meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices are allowed.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Target Weekly Offertory $5,500
Weekend of February 11/12 $5,045
For The Church in Latin America $ 765
CALENDAR NOTES
Extended Coffee Hour:
Sunday, February 19, 10am to 1pm, Parish Center
Holiday Mass Schedule:
Monday, February 20, 9am, Lower Church
Liturgy Committee Meeting:
Tuesday, February 21, 7:30pm, Convent
Ash Wednesday Mass Schedule:
Wednesday, February 22, 7:00am, 12:05pm; 7:30pm, Lower Church
Knights of Columbus:
Wednesday, February 22, 7:30pm, Convent Dining Room
Prayer Group:
Wednesday, February 22, 7:30pm, Convent Chapel
Coffee Hour:
Friday, February 24, Following 9am Mass, Parish Center
Liturgy, Adoration and The Rosary:
Saturday, February 25, 9am to 12:30pm, Lower Church
Extended Coffee Hour:
Sunday, February 26, 10am to 1pm, Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
There will be no CCD classes on Sunday, February 19 and Tuesday, February 21 due to winter school vacation. However, there will be CCD class held on the last Sunday of school vacation, February 26. Please make note of this on your calendar.
Michelle Solomon, Director of Rel. Ed.
GUILD OF ST. FRANCIS “FAMILY NIGHT”
Save the Date! Saturday, March 10 for our Annual Family Night at the Parish Center from 5-8pm. Cost is $16/adults, $8/children up to age 12, Children 2 years & under are free. Reservations must be received by March 4. No admission at door without a reservation. Checks should be made payable to Guild of St. Francis and mailed to Jane Murphy, 8 Bridlefield Lane, Medfield, MA 02052. For questions and reservations call Mary English at 617-332-8656 or Cindy Raymond at 617-527-3722.
WHY CATHOLIC? A Journey through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, from Renew International, uses small group learning and sharing. During Lent, 2012, the focus is on Christian Prayer. Our Lady Help of Christians parish is offering Why Catholic and invites parishioners from across the city to join with them. If interested, contact Father John Sassani, Pastor of OLHC, at jsassani@ourladys.com or 617-527-7560 x 215.
CATHOLICISM DVD SERIES
This program consists of six weekly sessions of 90 minutes each during the six weeks of Lent covering Incarnation through Resurrection. Sessions will be offered on Sunday, 7:30-9:00pm with Mary Troxel as facilitator; Wednesday, 7:30-9:00pm with Peg Miller as facilitator; Friday, 10:00-11:30am with Michelle Solomon and Roseann Furbush as facilitators—all to take place in the convent. On Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30am, sessions will be held at the home of Peter and Bernie Castellanos, with Peter as facilitator. Sign up sheets are at the church entrances this weekend. Sessions will begin the week of February 26. Participants are asked to contribute $15 each to the cost of the study guide/workbook. The actual cost is more than $15 so additional contributions will be welcomed. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Michelle, Roseann, or Winnie at their offices.
STRENGTHENING OUR PARISHES AS PRIMARY COMMUNITIES OF FAITH
Consultation continues with Parish and Finance Councils...the session for West Region, Vicariate #2, which includes Sacred Heart, is scheduled for Monday, March 5, 2012 from 7-9pm at St. Patrick Parish church hall at 212 Main St., Watertown. Fr. Bob Connors, our Vicar, also invites other interested parishioners. Please let the rectory know if you plan to attend so that St. Patrick’s is prepared.
SAINT JOSEPH PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL IN BRIGHTON ENROLLING NOW
Are you a student or parent who is interested in a Catholic High School for the 21st century student? Then you will be glad to know that Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, a unification of Mount Saint Joseph Academy and Trinity Catholic High School, is opening in September 2012 under the sponsorship of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph Prep will be a college preparatory high school, offering a curriculum characterized by interdisciplinary teaching and collaborative learning, global awareness, and enhanced use of technology. Vibrant theology and campus ministry programs will ensure the moral and spiritual formation of students.
This new beginning offers the opportunity to take advantage of some powerful trends in education, especially a focus on the learning styles and needs of 21st century students. We are committed to a curriculum that helps students develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with creativity and innovation. An interdisciplinary approach will promote excellence especially in science, technology, mathematics, and the arts.
St. Joseph Prep is enrolling now and we welcome your application. Call Mary Esposito at 617-787-7999.
POST ABORTION HEALING RETREAT
Do you know someone who is carrying grief and sorrow over past abortions? Project Rachel is the post-abortion ministry of the Catholic Church which offers hope and healing from the pain of abortion. Project Rachel will offer three “Come to the Waters of Healing” post-abortion retreats this winter/spring: Saturday, February 25, March 17, and May 5. Location is confidential. For more information and registration for the date of your choice, contact Project Rachel at 508.651.3100 or help@projectrachelboston.com. Trust in the tender mercy of God!
SAVE THE DATE:
Sunday, March 4, 7:30pm for the next Social Justice Forum—A Video of the 2011 Boston Archdiocese Justice Convocation featuring Fr. Bryan Hehir and Fr. David Courturier.
SIGNINGS
Last weekend, parishes across the Archdiocese of Boston were shown a video of a homily given by Cardinal Sean O’Malley. The homily addressed the moral issue of “Death with Dignity” an initiative currently being considered by the Massachusetts Legislature which deals with physician-assisted suicide. This initiative, whether or not physician-assisted suicide should be legal, may be voted upon this coming November by the citizens of Massachusetts. This is an important issue for us to be proactive in addressing, as we Catholics respect and support the dignity and value of human life as a natural gift from our Creator, the Father. Do we want to waste this awesome and precious gift? Think about this: are our lives worth living even if we experience suffering? What would our lives be like if there was no suffering in the world? What would we learn from living in a world without suffering? Now, let us look at Jesus, the Son of Man, for he experienced more suffering than we can even imagine. He endured trials of doubt, flogging, insults, mockery, ridicule, and torture. He persevered through His suffering by trusting in the Father, giving himself entirely to Him for our sake and depending solely upon Him. We must look to Jesus as a model for how to endure our own suffering in this world.
In the Gospel today, after the paralyzed man and his bearers struggle through the crowds and ultimately climb onto the roof in order to reach Jesus, Jesus recognizes their strong faith. Jesus’ primary concern at that point is the heart of the paralyzed man. For his heart is the core of his life, a life which Jesus has come to save. As for the bearers, Jesus sees their hearts as a model for care and compassion of the very kind they are showing to their paralyzed brother. Jesus knows that they would never abandon or isolate him, or even waste his precious life. The reality of the paralyzed man’s life can appear challenging and difficult to many people. Those people would unfortunately be overlooking the deeper reality of that life as a precious gift from God, a life that contributes greatly to our society. To dismiss the paralyzed man’s life would be to lose out on the gift of his life experience of living through both good and bad times. I am reminded of a meeting I once had with a family in order to plan a loved-one’s funeral. A family member shared a comment her grandmother had once said - that witnessing the suffering her 3-year-old grandson had endured had taught her how to endure suffering herself. We may wonder why this woman’s grandson was not healed, like the paralyzed man in the Gospel. We must remember that healing is not limited to the miraculous, but can be experienced in various ways. Healing can come from the comfort and care we give to our brothers and sisters who are disabled or ill. That comfort and care we express are signs of God’s goodness and love and His very manifestation in our midst.
As for physician-assisted suicide, I ask you to consider the following; are we really showing God’s goodness and love by helping others to take their own lives? Are we really protecting them or are we allowing them to deny themselves the experience of suffering, an experience that teaches us the real meaning of perseverance which helps us to understand more deeply how to live through good and bad times in our lives? If we continue down this road in the direction of a life without suffering, we are in for a regrettable outcome, a superficial existence. And who would want to live in a cold, empty, meaningless world like that?
In Christ, Fr. Carey
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Please mark your calendars to indicate that there will be NO 11:00am MASS AT SACRED HEART ON SUNDAY, March 4. Fr. St. Martin is being installed in his new parish in Townsend and most of the Deaf will be celebrating the Mass with him there. There will be interpretation at the Noon Mass, however, for those of the Deaf community who want to attend Mass at Sacred Heart.
BREAKFAST FORUM MARCH 10
Join Women Affirming Life at the Four Points by Sheraton, Norwood on Saturday, March 10th at 8:30am for Mass and an important and timely Breakfast Forum: Physician Assisted Suicide: How to Inform Ourselves for a Meaningful Response.
M C Sullivan, nurse, bio-ethicist and attorney will be the presenter. The celebrant and homilist for the Mass is Monsignor Robert Deeley, Vicar General of the Archdiocese. Tickets are $25.00 if purchased by February 24th ($30 after this date). Contact the Pro Life Office at 508-651-1900 or ProLifeOffice@rcab.org for more information.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON ASSISTED-SUICIDE
Following are some excerpts from paragraphs 2276-2279 on Euthanasia and paragraphs 2280-2283 on Suicide:
#2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.
...Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator….
#2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment….
#2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at risk of shortening their days,
can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.
#2280….It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
#2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.
Prayer of the Elderly, Blessed Pope John Paul II, 1999
Grant, O Lord of life,
That we may savor every season of our lives as a gift
filled with promise for the future.
Grant that we may lovingly accept your will,
and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands.
And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes,
grant that we may face it with serenity,
without regret for what we shall leave behind.
For in meeting you,
after having sought you for so long,
We shall find once more every authentic good
which we have known here on earth,
in the company of all who have gone before us
marked with the sign of faith and hope.
Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity,
pray for us “now and at the hour of our death.”
Keep us ever close to Jesus, your beloved Son and our brother,
the Lord of life and glory. Amen!